Brother Multi-Function Center  MFC-240C All-In-One InkJet Printer Logo
Posted on Sep 06, 2007
Answered by a Fixya Expert

Trustworthy Expert Solutions

At Fixya.com, our trusted experts are meticulously vetted and possess extensive experience in their respective fields. Backed by a community of knowledgeable professionals, our platform ensures that the solutions provided are thoroughly researched and validated.

View Our Top Experts

Brother MFC 240C alignment problems

I installed new ink cartridges on the Bro MFC 240C printer, for black and all colors, since then the pages print out wrong--a couple of lines are fine in the middle of the page, but the rest of the lines appear double-stacked, like each letter is printed twice, one spaced slightly apart from the other. I tried to fix it by going to printer alignment on the menu, but it hasn't helped. It prints out a test page with samples to match, but none of the samples appear to be a good match. I picked the closest match but it hasn't fixed the problem. I reinstalled the cartridges, re cleaned, turned the printer off and on, but still no luck. Please help.

  • 11 more comments 
  • all shookup Mar 29, 2008

    went ink

    test print

    checked alignment *5 best results

    it is stacked letters



    tired

  • Anonymous Mar 31, 2008

    the printer is not respond fron my conputer

  • MAEVA Apr 01, 2008

    I had a problem with a paper jam with my Bro MFC 240C printer,since then the pages print out wrong--a couple of lines are fine in the middle of the page, but the rest of the lines appear double-stacked, like each letter is printed twice, one spaced slightly apart from the other. I tried to fix it by going to printer alignment on the menu, but it hasn't helped.
    It prints out a test page with samples to match, but none of the samples appear to be a good match. I picked the closest match but it hasn't fixed the problem. I reinstalled the cartridges, re cleaned, turned the printer off and on, etc

  • carolyn40 Sep 09, 2008

    Mine brother DCP-135c Ive tried and tried to get the aliment right but nothing works the test print outs nothing seems to match the alinement's all printing seems to have two lots so its fuzzy, its driving me mad

  • il diavolo Oct 20, 2008

    what carolyn said... same printer, brand new and same problem. went to the store where i was told to fix the alignment. still no results...

  • Anonymous Dec 18, 2008

    I too have the ghost shadow.  Have performed the realignment at least 15 times.  Got just a smidge better.  Is there any hope?

  • Misalignment Feb 05, 2009

    My MFC-240C Brother printer started to print every letter with a slightly offset duplicate. This started when I put in a new black cartridge. I tried the alignment process a dozen time, then called Brother service and the tech had me do the same thing another six times. If anything, the misalignment got worse.

    Eventually, the tech told me to take it into a service repair shop. The printer is one month out of warranty!

    Does anyone know how to adjust the printer head without paying $75 to a service shop for a printer that cost $100 new?

  • Anonymous Feb 11, 2009

    MI IMPRESORA NO ME QUIERE TIRAR EL COLOR ROJO PENSE QUE ESTABA TAPADA PERO LA DESTAPE I COMO QUIERA NO ME TIRA LO SUFICIENTE TINTA ROJA PARA DARME UNA IMAGEN NITIDA

  • Anonymous Apr 19, 2009

    I have exactly the same problem to a tee!!! I have run the alignment menu loads of times and it hasn't got any better. I'm really miffed as just put all new ink cartridges in it! Any solutions would be gratefully recieved. My printer model is Brother MFC 215C. Bit ancient, granted, but it not been overworked..!!

  • Pamela Nov 20, 2012

    Thank You!!! Thank You! Thank You!!! I was banging my head up against the walll for 3 months. I finally resolved to call a tech. Then I came across this site. The solution you indicated worked and saved me loads of money.

  • Anonymous Feb 14, 2013

    Thank you very much, worked at treat.

  • Kristel Early
    Kristel Early Jan 02, 2014

    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I did this and only had to do it 3 times & it is normal again! a billion times thank you!

  • Anonymous Mar 30, 2014

    I need help to fix my printer asap

×

12 Answers

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Governor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 20 times.

Corporal:

An expert that has over 10 points.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on Jun 02, 2009
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Governor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 20 times.

Corporal:

An expert that has over 10 points.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

Joined: Jun 02, 2009
Answers
1
Questions
0
Helped
11420
Points
40

I have figured it out! I have a Brother MFC 240CN and I was having the same alignment problem and I followed the instructions from the printer prompt as well as the manual and it does not work.

So, this is what I did. I ran the alignment test print, then when it asked if it matches, I would say "No". And then I would pick number "8" to be the one that most closely matched "0" regardless if it did or not. I did this for the 600 and 1200dpi. Then when I ran the alignment test print again, it looked better! So I repeated it again and again picking "8" each time and it looked better with every test print. After about 4 or 5 tries, it looked normal again!

I hope everyone else with this problem will see this response and I hope it works too. I was getting so frustrated with this problem. Now I don't have to get it serviced or buy a new printer!

  • 6 more comments 
  • lily859 Feb 01, 2011

    I did just like you said on my MFC 685cw on aligning my printer. About picking the number "8" it really worked. Thank you , i think that the Brother company should put the correct information on their manual so no body has to brake their head about aligning their printer.

  • Anonymous Sep 21, 2012

    God bless you CalgaryAE92! It really worked! But it took lots of patience :))...P.S. You are clever.

  • Anonymous Jan 08, 2013

    I have the brother 790cw printer and after many failed attempts with them trying to help I found this post and tried it, IT WORKED! Problem solved thanks so much!!!!

  • Anonymous Feb 18, 2013

    your knowledge is a blessing CalgaryAE92 coz i also tried on our MFC-J220 here in the office and it really solved our problem. It really works...Thank you

  • Colin Johnson Nov 03, 2013

    I tried this solution on a MFC-260c and it worked just fine,many thanks Brother didn'tb even know how to do it..

  • Kristel Early
    Kristel Early Jan 02, 2014

    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I only had to do this 3 times & it worked for me!

  • over burned2
    over burned2 Mar 13, 2017

    many thanks!! very surprising that following an illogical method solved the problem :)

  • Laurie B
    Laurie B Mar 11, 2018

    This IS THE FIX!!!!! But a side note - Run an alignment like above, using 8 on both. Then print something out to see if the text aligned or not. You CAN NOT judge it by the flippin alignment sheet it prints out asking you to match the line that looks most like "0"! Oh and casually, did anyone notice that the instructions text on the alignment test page is always perfect? But when you print anything else it looks like it's from the Twilight Zone... Something fishy is going on here Brother!

×

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

Problem Solver:

An expert who has answered 5 questions.

  • Contributor 5 Answers
  • Posted on Sep 09, 2007
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

Problem Solver:

An expert who has answered 5 questions.

Joined: Sep 09, 2007
Answers
5
Questions
0
Helped
12323
Points
9

This sounds like there may be ink on the encoder strip - this is a strip of clear plastic with lots of fine vertical lines printed on it which goes through a sensor at the rear of the print head. It is difficult to access the encoder as the carriage can be in the way; however to move the carriage to get better access: 1. Press the Menu, Black Start (Mono Start), and 0 key 2. Press the 7 and 5 keys in this order. 3. The head/carriage unit moves to the flushing position and the "PLS COVER OPEN" appears on the LCD. 3. Open the scanner cover. Clean the encoder strip using a soft cloth, slighty damp with water and detergent (no solvent). 4. Close the scanner cover. To make the machine return to standby, press the Stop/Exit key

Ad

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on Oct 02, 2008
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

Joined: Oct 02, 2008
Answers
1
Questions
0
Helped
11420
Points
7

You can fix it with the alignment menu on the printer, it just takes a while if you know what to look for. Cut the '0' sample out of a alignment sheet. Compare this with your options & if the samples don't perfectly line up then pick the one that aligns closer to the ends of the '0' sample and repeat till it perfectly matches.

  • MoveeLuver Mar 24, 2011

    This method really works, perform an alignment on your print and keep pressing 8 for 600dpi and 1200dpi until you find a alignment that is closest to '0' and then select that one and then you are ready to print. I just performed this method on my Brother MFC 6940 CW. So you do not need tools or a service or software as the Guru mentioned, just paper, ink and patiences.

×

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on Jul 25, 2009
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

Joined: Jul 25, 2009
Answers
1
Questions
0
Helped
11420
Points
3

CalgaryAE92 Was right, I did like he(she) said, I choose 8 like the best match and then keep on going until I got the #5 is the closest match in 600 dpi, and perfect match in 1200 to the #0, if you see a closest match in other number just ignore other wise you'll be doing all over again, if you pass the good match hit a lower number like 3 to be the best match is like a step back.

thanks CalgaryAE92, I waste a lot of paper and time, not your fault do, but finally fixed, the brother Co. got to get a better way to fix this, until then keep hitting #8.

Joven Cahilig

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on Oct 01, 2017
Joven Cahilig
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

Joined: Oct 01, 2017
Answers
1
Questions
0
Helped
11420
Points
1

Hi everyone. I have a MFC-J220 model. I did the test alignment as what was suggested here but its not printing anything on the paper. Though it prints documents and stuff. Should I be seeing a border print on the paper?

sergei_islam

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

Problem Solver:

An expert who has answered 5 questions.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on Dec 02, 2014
sergei_islam
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

Problem Solver:

An expert who has answered 5 questions.

Joined: Dec 02, 2014
Answers
1
Questions
0
Helped
11420
Points
1

Hi everybody. I have brother mfc j265w, and I found how to align it. Every time of trying to align yo must closely monitor shift vertical line according position #5, and press the button with line of bigger shift, so to try to make the line #5 to be as one vertical line. And numbers of 600 dpi and 1200 dpi may be different. For final precisely Aline you need choose numbers 4 and 6 for shift.
I hope that you could understand my expression.

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on Apr 11, 2013
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

Joined: Apr 11, 2013
Answers
1
Questions
0
Helped
11420
Points
1

Plz clean ur senser strip

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on Feb 02, 2013
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

Joined: Feb 02, 2013
Answers
1
Questions
0
Helped
11420
Points
1

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on Feb 29, 2012
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

Joined: Feb 29, 2012
Answers
1
Questions
0
Helped
11420
Points
1

Not really a sonlution, but...it works for me: Change Printing settings form two-directional print to onedirectional.

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on Mar 28, 2010
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

Joined: Mar 28, 2010
Answers
1
Questions
0
Helped
11420
Points
1

Really simple, reach in and wipe off the decoder strip with a damp, soft cloth. Fixed it in one try!

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on Feb 11, 2009
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Joined: Feb 11, 2009
Answers
1
Questions
0
Helped
11420
Points
1

MI IMPRESORA NO ME TIRA EL COLOR ROJO I LA LIMPIE Y COMO QUIERA NO ME DA LO SUFICIENTE TINTA

Anonymous

Level 3:

An expert who has achieved level 3 by getting 1000 points

All-Star:

An expert that got 10 achievements.

MVP:

An expert that got 5 achievements.

Vice President:

An expert whose answer got voted for 100 times.

  • Master 832 Answers
  • Posted on Sep 12, 2007
Anonymous
Master
Level 3:

An expert who has achieved level 3 by getting 1000 points

All-Star:

An expert that got 10 achievements.

MVP:

An expert that got 5 achievements.

Vice President:

An expert whose answer got voted for 100 times.

Joined: Sep 07, 2007
Answers
832
Questions
0
Helped
557942
Points
2204

This is a service job! The printhead alignment has to be corrected by service and cant be fixed by the alignment settings given to the user (service software needed. Printhead has to be adjusted by tools).

Add Your Answer

×

Uploading: 0%

my-video-file.mp4

Complete. Click "Add" to insert your video. Add

×

Loading...
Loading...

Related Questions:

1helpful
1answer

Black is not working in my brother mfc-240c printer

did you use genunie brother black ink cartridge?

ALL…. Epson & Brother Requires Genuine Cartridges. !!!!!!!!

These printers have a CHIP that will detect if it is Generic or Genuine. When they see it’s Generic Cartridges, it will print lines thru the words, stripes across the picture and also do a mix match with the colors. It also will not let you print anything, if only one of the cartridges is empty.

I wanted to print only Black, and would not let me, because I did not have any ink in one of my cyan cartridges. Go figure.

I located a page on http://www.fixyourownprinter.com forum, which had plenty of details about similar issues.

Try the forum, there are alot of issues like yours.

If you find this helpful, pls rate me.

Thanks and Good Luck :0)





1helpful
1answer

My mfc-240c won't print red, even with a new cartdrige.

Try running a few cleanings on the color.

Press the ink button and select cleaning,, do about five cleanings. Print the ink quality test page (from the ink button as well) and see the quality if it improved.

If it still doesnt print its possible the ink is clogged and may need servicing to replace the printer head
2helpful
1answer

I have a Brother MFC 240C printer that will not print black ink. I just changed all the cartridges. All the other cartridges print. I ran the clean cycle many times. No error messages just blank paper.

I have a brother MFC 3240C. My Black ink stopped printing(initially printed horizontal faded lines and gradually got worse), the other colors were printing fine. I tried cleaning numerous time( 50 -100 times over 1-2 weeks ). Still no improvement. The way I print now is:
1. I go to Printer Properties
2. Change Media type from "Plain Paper" to "Inkjet Paper".
3. Change Quality to "Photo".

This takes a long time to print 1-2 minutes per page. However, this works for me since this is my Home printer and use it for printing only few pages here are there.

Good Luck
RK
3helpful
1answer

Black ink in brother 240c printer does not print new cartridge

I have a brother MFC 3240C. My Black ink stopped printing(initially printed horizontal faded lines and gradually got worse), the other colors were printing fine. I tried cleaning numerous time( 50 -100 times over 1-2 weeks ). Still no improvement. The way I print now is:
1. I go to Printer Properties
2. Change Media type from "Plain Paper" to "Inkjet Paper".
3. Change Quality to "Photo".

This takes a long time to print 1-2 minutes per page. However, this works for me since this is my Home printer and use it for printing only few pages here are there. Better than throwing the printer.

Good Luck
RK
0helpful
1answer

Mfc-240c reading offline and empty black

Regarding your problem: If one of the color ink cartidges is out of ink, the MFC 240C printer will not operate when you only install a black ink cartidge. It requires that all four catridges have ink available in them for it to function. When you examine a cartridge it may appear that it has a little ink in it when you get message that the cartridges needs to be replaced because a little ink remains to prevent the print head from drying out. [email protected]
1helpful
1answer

MFC-240c ink erros. says i'm low/out after replacing

Your printer detects ink levels with an optical sensor that shines at the clear plastic in the center of the bottom of the cartridge. Once this area is no longer dark it will tell you to replace the ink. Since you installed full cartridges it could be that the sensor is cracking up. Another possibility is that you could have air in the ink lines that run between your cartridges and the print head. When this happens the printer cannot print the color that has air in the lines. You should be able to look in your printer to see the ink lines and see if there is air in the black one.
0helpful
1answer

Printer problems-------

Have you tried replacing the black ink cartridge with a new one. The new one you installed could have a defect.
1helpful
2answers

Print faded after replacing black cartridge Brother 240C

The print heads don't appreciate being out of ink so the Brother printer has sensors to prevent that but the tape defeated that prevention. Maybe more cleanings or maybe a cartridge with printhead cleaning solution will help. Otherwise, I fear a new printer.
0helpful
2answers

Inkjet alignment and cleaning

press ink and the arrow-up button to choose alignment print, test print and cleaning color or black or both.
Not finding what you are looking for?

11,430 views

Ask a Question

Usually answered in minutes!

Top Brother Office Equipment & Supplies Experts

Norman Weimar
Norman Weimar

Level 3 Expert

7035 Answers

Cindy Wells

Level 3 Expert

6688 Answers

k24674

Level 3 Expert

8093 Answers

Are you a Brother Office Equipment and Supply Expert? Answer questions, earn points and help others

Answer questions

Manuals & User Guides

Loading...